Sunbury residents are proposing a bus loop service as a way of increasing transport in the area and reducing waiting times.
As previously reported by Star Weekly, Sunbury resident Matthew McKay launched an online petition in 2023 calling for an on-demand bus service, complemented by a ‘Sunbury Loop’ bus route.
With Gisborne recently receiving a two-way bus loop service after the Gisborne Bus Network Review, Mr McKay said he would like to see a similar model introduced to Sunbury.
“A bus loop in Sunbury would allow residents and visitors to commute from all around Sunbury in a timely manner, rather than needing to catch a bus into the centre of Sunbury, then wait, then catch another lengthy bus to their destination,” Mr McKay said.
“I also fail to understand why the bus route goes from the bus terminus, out to the end of its route and then back into Sunbury along the same route. A smarter approach to widen the network would be to return to Sunbury’s bus terminus along a different route,” he said.
Mr McKay said that he also finds the current bus timetable “archaic”, with “infrequency and … early finishes.”
“The key issue with the current timetable is that it’s not [a] focus of improving and funding by PTV and the government,” he said.
“The timetable is not allowing for locals to get around town into the evening unless they drive and as Sunbury expands wider and wider, residents are finding themselves further away from places they need to get to.”
President of the Sunbury Residents Association (SRA) Graham Williams said that he supports Mr McKay’s initiative.
“SRA is interested in the initiative – the bus service is very much focused on a spoked wheel … so it doesn’t provide a loop around Sunbury,” Mr Williams said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport and Planning said the department continually reviews the public transport network to “identify changing traffic and travel patterns and explore where improvements could be made”.
“The Sunbury community currently has access to 10 bus routes connecting them to nearby communities, services and onward travel – including the new Route 475 service connecting Sunbury and Diggers Rest, which was introduced last year,” the spokesperson said.
